Removu S1 Gimbal Review

May 12th, 2017

Removu S1 3-axis Gimbal – incredible stabilised POV footage

There are a number of ways of getting professional looking footage without laying out a huge amount of cash on expensive DSLR’s and lenses. You could go down the route of drones; cable cam set-ups (check out the Wiral Cam right here) or look at Gimbal options.

This is the Removu S1 – a weatherproof 3-axis gimbal designed for GoPro cameras, and can be hand held with the supplied handle – or mounted via standard GoPro mounts…

The S1 can be mounted above or below the gimbal – depending on where it is mounted. We found the best position was with the unit upside down on a chesty mount.

The Details

The Removu S1 comes in a protective case, and has various different fittings for GoPro models. Ours came with a mount for the GoPro Hero 5.

Also in the case is a handle that fits in to the main body, and a remote control that slots in to the handle, allowing manual control of the Gimbal motors for panning etc

The displays on both the S1 and the remote show battery life, and the mode.

The remote control has a built in battery; whilst the Removu S1 has a 7.4V battery in the main body. A USB charger dock is included, that can charge 2x batteries and the remote independently.

The actual Gimbal part of the S1 uses a 3-axis system, with brushless motors. Vertical tilt angle is 292degrees; Horizontal panning is 292degrees and roll angle is 90degrees.

Battery life is approx 3-5hours, and charging time 2.5hours.

Unlike the GoPro Karma, which houses batteries in the handle; the Removu S1 houses the battery in the main body – meaning mounting options in various different ways are possible.

We hung the S1 upside down on two GoPro joining mounts to get the best compromise of position for filming and comfort.

For this test we used the S1 hand held; and on a GoPro chesty strap – facing both forwards and backwards.

Out On The Trail

With the S1 gimbal, your GoPro will protrude some way. This does mean the occasional hit on your saddle, and does make certain things a bit tricky – but the quality of footage is well worth the hassle.

Mounting the Removu S1 took a little bit of fettling to get the best angle – it’s a heavy unit and the chesty strap can move around quite a bit. We found the best way was using a couple of short mount joints to hang the unit low – which put the GoPro at approx the same height it would normally be used from. This was by far the most stable set up, and movement of the whole unit was minimal.

Chris Smith helped us with testing out the S1 on trails at Windhill B1kepark.

The Removu S1 gimbal has three settings – Pan; Follow and Lock. For use on the chesty mount, the Pan setting was the one we used. When you turn the gimbal on, you set the position of the camera, and whatever you do – it will stay in that position. When it reaches the limit of the movement – particularly right and left – the gimbal slowly returns to the central position. This gives a cool effect – specifically when cornering. You end up seeing the other side of the bike – much like your own line of sight. It’s a strange effect, but quite natural.

Obviously using a GoPro on a chest mount does make some people question safety in a crash scenario – and using a Gimbal like the Removu S1 enhances this. However, due to the limited clearance between the Gimbal and the saddle when moving around on the bike, you are limited in how aggressively you can ride.

If it’s just amazing quality footage you want – then the S1 delivers. It’s a great tool that can be used in a number of ways for creative video work.

Footage

Although the S1 appears to be silent, the GoPro camera does pick up lots of noise from the motors in use. We don’t really have an issue with this as tend to put music over footage – but we have compiled a few RAW clips from our test period so you get the idea of video quality and noise.

The quality of the footage from the S1 is amazing once you have spent time to set things up. There are times when the gimbal enhances things – as well as dulling it down. Single track looks crazy as you get a genuine ‘riders eye view’ feel with the footage; where as wider bike park style trails look slower and almost too smooth.

Although we didn’t have much time to experiment with off bike use, we did try a few pans and running around – the footage is enchanting.

We Say

Although not cheap by any means, the Removu S1 can deliver professional quality footage – it’s all down to how the camera is used.

We’ve not yet used the GoPro Karma – so can’t comment on a direct comparison, but we can definitely recommend the S1 as a brilliant bit of kit for adding that professional touch to all your GoPro video footage.